Watford Workhouse Bricks

Watford Workhouse Bricks

The building fronting Vicarage Road next to the football ground, formerly known as Shrodells, was initially the Watford Union Workhouse. One of the courtyards at the rear was the exercise yard for the male inmates and on two of the walls are a number of bricks etched with a name and a date (approximately 50 in all). They were likely inscribed by the same person (perhaps a particular inmate with stone mason training) during the years from 1845 to 1858 and show the names of those who died in the workhouse and a date. They are probably the only memorial these men had and as such, are unique not only to workhouse history, but to social history as a whole. Although graffiti has been found in some former workhouses, usually in the day wards/rooms used by casuals, there does not appear to be any other place with etched bricks such as those at Watford.

Work has been done by one member in particular to match up the names on the bricks with the actual people who resided in the House. Using workhouse death records for the Watford area and census records, all the bricks have been researched and the Group has put together a Book of Remembrance (held in the Group's Archives).

Two Watford Workhouse Boys

The Two Watford Workhouse Boys Who Went To War

Some time ago, while researching the history of the Watford Workhouse and Watford General Hospital, I was given a scrapbook of old newspaper cuttings and photographs of Watford General Hospital – or more correctly, the building of the new Shrodells Hospital as it was named back then - and in it there was a report from the Watford Post, dated February 1962, about St Barnabas’s Chapel. A chapel had been incorporated into the workhouse when it was built, but the late Countess of Essex, who took much interest in the institutions of the town, opened a subscription list for the purpose of building a place of worship for the inmates and this resulted in the erection of the chapel, in 1870, in the grounds on the west side.  It was originally for use by the Workhouse inmates – but services continued until after the Second World War - then over the years it fell into disrepair and was to be demolished. (see photos in the Gallery - Places of Worship)

The newspaper report commented on various items that were in the Chapel that were to be kept and incorporated elsewhere; the chapel bell was to go to St Oswald’s Church in Croxley Green, the stained glass window and the font to the Church of St Bede, also at Croxley and the altar ornaments were to be transferred to a replacement chapel within the new hospital.

But the article also referred to several brass memorial plaques. One was dedicated to Louisa, Countess of Essex, which apparently read:  “in memory of Louisa, Countess of Essex as a grateful record of her Christian kindness to the inmates of the Union House and to the warm interest she took in the building of the Chapel”.  There was one to William Plaistowe, a relieving officer in Watford for 32 years who  “performed his duties with a conscientious regard for the interest of the ratepayers and with justice and kindness to the poor”. 

But what was more unusual, was a plaque in memory of Two Workhouse Boys – James Gurney and Daniel Gordon: 

“These two boys who, “after being educated in this house,  joined the band of the 24^th Regiment and fell in the service of their country at the Battle of Isandlwana in Zululand, January 22, 1879”.

Making a note of this information about the Chapel, I went on to research some other things, until a while later a letter appeared on the Nostalgia Page in the Watford Observer from a Mr Tim Needham. He was asking if anyone knew the whereabouts of a plaque relating to the workhouse boys. So, along with a fellow group member, we set off on a search to see if we could locate anything to do with this request. We contacted various people, including the museum, the library etc. and as both of us had worked at the Hospital for several years, got in touch with people who had also worked there for many years in the hope someone might remember something. We made a thorough search of all the places where we thought the plaque might have ended up. We even got access at one point to some underground cellars. But the replacement chapel mentioned in the newspaper article was no longer as it was originally and we soon realised the Boys’ plaque (and probably the others too) was long gone, likely disposed of or melted down. Afterall, the chapel was demolished in 1962 – over 50 years ago. So I let Mr Needham know we had drawn a blank and moved on. 

Then at the beginning of January 2013, a Mr Paul King from Worcester contacted the group, also about the workhouse boys.  He’d seen the piece I’d written (on our old website) and offered some further information.

He wrote:  “I understand that Daniel and his friend, James Gurney, spent time in the Watford Union Workhouse prior to their joining the 24th Regiment of Foot (The Warwickshire Regiment) in December 1877. Daniel enlisted at Chatham, Kent on December 6, 1877, aged 13 years and James enlisted at Chatham, Kent on December 29, 1877, aged 15 years." 

Mr King was also the ‘keeper’ of the Anglo-Zulu medal awarded to Daniel Gordon and he sent a photo -

Daniel Gordon's Medal (photo courtesy Mr King)

A little later, we heard from Mr Needham again, who had been researching records and hoping, like us, to discover the whereabouts of the brass plaque. However, he’d also drawn a blank and so had turned his efforts towards procuring donations for a replacement memorial. 

It was then that I began to realise the significance of these two boys, not just to the history of West Watford, but to Workhouse history and the history of the Regiment into which they’d enlisted.

Now it had been hoped that any replacement plaque could be commissioned with help from the War Memorials Trust, but in order for the project to be assessed, the Trust needed as much information as possible about the original and would only fund a replacement if evidence of the original design and exact wording was available. As the plaque was missing, now presumed lost, the Trust were unable to help.  

Enlistment:

Now it wasn’t unusual for boys from poor backgrounds, or the workhouse, to “take (in this case) the Queen’s shilling”.  Orphans or infants at 14 years old, could enlist for life.  14 was the prescribed age for the admission of boys, except under very special circumstances.  Enlisting in the military was a way to escape the grinding poverty and rampant illiteracy of the age.  In inland Unions, the Army was a common choice of career and men and boys were actively recruited from workhouses.  A survey in 1860 showed that of a survey of 125 workhouse ‘graduates’, the largest single group, twenty three, had ‘gone for a soldier’ and many school superintendents claimed that, apart from its vocational value, military drill was beneficial to all boys.  

"Instead of the dull, listless, unintelligent air of the boys, with a careless attention to their person, mixed with the coarsest and rudest of manners, there was now an unmistakable intelligence, a quick sharp eye and ear, a smartness and pride in the boys’ personal appearance. Their marching in their weekly walks was the pride and talk of the town". So wrote the master of the Wolverhampton Workhouse.  While this may not have applied directly to Watford, boys (and girls) did receive an education and were used to discipline and many workhouses, often with public subscriptions, purchased instruments and gave musical instruction.

So, you could, in certain regiments, enlist as a Boy and gradually work your way until you reached the age of 18 when you were considered a man; this in an age when you you were considered a youth until the age of 21 and could not get married below this age without consent of parents and a soldier had to ask permission from his commanding officer.

Now the information I originally had showed that Daniel Gordon enlisted on 6th December 1877 and James Gurney on the 29th December, aged 13 and 15 years respectively. They were described by Mr King as ‘friends’ and both from the workhouse, so I think it reasonably fair to assume they may have travelled to Kent together. But yet further research and evidence from the 1879 Zulu War website suggested the boys may have enlisted either on the same day, or at least within a day of each other as the original medal roll gives Daniel Gordon’s number as 1491 and James Gurney’s as 1494. There is also a birth record for James that has come to light which is recorded for July 1863 and further evidence to suggest he enlisted on 20th December 1877, not the 29th.  Whatever the facts of the matter (and as I and others have discovered, the records can be quite difficult to unravel), towards the end of December 1877, James and Gordon enlisted in the 24^th (The 2^nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot.

Photograph taken at Chatham, of a Boy who enlisted in the 24th (The 2nd Warwickshire Regiment of Foot) at about the time the two Workhouse Boys did

The use of the word “Boy” in the context of this research was an actual rank in the British Army (which later equated to Private), and was applied to lads not yet 18, many of whom were the sons of men serving in the regiment.  Part of the regulations for enlistment stated: 

Now you read a lot about Drummers or Drummer Boys, but they were seldom “Boys” as in the rank.  Of the 12 Drummers killed at Isandlwana,  the youngest was 18 and the oldest in his 30s. But there were five BOYS who were killed in that battle, most of them in the 24th’s band, (into which our two lads enlisted) and the youngest was just 16. 

But returning to the plaque in St Barnabas's Chapel. The wording on the original plaque, as far as we know from the newspaper article, had said - 'joined the band of the 24th Regiment'.  This was the 24th (The 2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot (later to become the Welsh Borderers). 

The Workhouse would have given the boys a limited education and they would have attended Sunday School. There’s no sure way of knowing if the boys had been taught to play instruments, but from some recent research of the Union Accounts, there are references to payment of money to the Band Master for salary and musical instruments (1879) and there are records of pupils having won prizes in local music competitions.  But, no sooner had the boys enlisted than they were on their way to South Africa. All the way from the Union Workhouse in Vicarage Road, Watford, to the Cape Colonies on the other side of the world.  

At this point it may be helpful to have some background to the Anglo-Zulu wars. In brief: 

The build up to the war began in 1877 (the year the boys enlisted) when the British annexed the Boer republic of Transvaal. Sir Henry Bartle Frere, a British colonial administrator and a rather scheming man by all accounts, was sent to Cape Town with the task of uniting South Africa under a single British confederation.   But Frere soon realised that uniting the Boer republics, independent black states and British colonies could not be realised until the powerful Zulu kingdom on its borders had been defeated.  London didn’t really want war with the Zulus, so Frere turned to the new British governor of Natal and the Transvaal, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, for reasons to invade. As Shepstone's fragile territories were bordered by Zululand, he formally outlined how regular border incursions by the Zulus were affecting the stability of the region.  He went further and expressed concern over the increasing amount of firearms falling into Zulu hands, further fuelling the case for war.

So in December 1878, an impossible ultimatum was sent to the Zulu king Cetshwayo, requiring him not just to disband his army, but to dissolve the Zulu Kingdom. Knowing that Cetshwayo would never accept the terms, Frere then authorised Lord Chelmsford, a supremely arrogant man, to lead a British invasion force into Zululand, and this also despite objections from leading members of Cape Colony’s high society and from Great Britain itself.)

Part of the force that was sent to South Africa included the two workhouse boys, Daniel Gordon and James Gurney and I have been able find a record tracking the 24th Regiment’s journey to South Africa just after the boys enlisted.

England to South Africa

They enlisted in December 1877 and on the 28th January 1878 a dispatch was received from the Horse Guard which directed the 2nd Battalion 24th to be held in readiness to embark for the Cape. 

On 1st February the Battalion left Chatham for Portsmouth, where it embarked in HM Troopship Himalaya, and sailed the next day. The number on board was 24 officers and 849 other ranks. 

HM Troopship Himalaya in 1854

On 28th February, the ship reached Simon’s Bay (or Simonstown), near the Cape.   

They left Simon’s Bay on 6th March, and the ship was sighted at East London on the 9th. But the surf was apparently too low and dangerous to land and it wasn’t until the 11th that all the Company got ashore.The journey had taken about 6 weeks.

The Companies were then boarded onto trains and hurried off to King William’s Town. From there they marched to the front and virtually straight into war.

Now in South Africa and right the way through the first half of 1878, the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment was engaged in active operations. The same “CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY of 1878-79” that detailed their journey recorded:  The 2nd Battalion 24th, with a detachment of Royal Artillery, which was the only regular force in this part of the country, was split up into detachments of one, two, or three companies, each detachment forming the nucleus of a column, consisting of Europeans and Fingo levies.  (Fingo Levies were made up of the Fengu people, who had arrived in the area in the early 1800s, fleeing from Shaka Zulu’s armies in the east).

From the time it landed, the battalion was engaged in marching, patrolling, or waylaying paths leading to the rebel positions.

Then, on 28th June 1878 The Kaffir War of 77-78 came to an end, and the Colonial Government proclaimed a general amnesty. On the 12th July 1878 seven companies of the 2nd/24th assembled in camp in the Buffalo Poort bush, to refit after the hard work they had gone through, and on the 19th July a telegram arrived ordering the battalion to Natal, where war with Cetshwayo, the Zulu king, was apparently imminent. 

Yet from August, the 2nd Battalion remained encamped in Natal for three months at Pietermaritzburg busily employed in drilling and refitting. War with Cetshwayo had become a foregone conclusion and it came down to just a question of time. Orders were issued for the troops to move gradually towards the frontier, more to allay alarm among the border farmers than as for the preparations for any movement.  

The 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment

On January 11, 1879 - the day the British ultimatum to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, expired - Lt. General Lord Chelmsford crossed into Zululand at Rorke’s Drift at the head of his Centre Column of nearly 5000 British troops and African auxiliaries. 

The invading British army, laden with an immense network of supply wagons, invaded Zululand and marched in the direction of Ulundi, the Zulu capital. British forces, eager to fight a large battle in which they could unleash their cutting-edge military technology against the vast Zulu army, became increasingly frustrated as the main Zulu army refused to attack and fighting was restricted to a few small skirmishes with Zulu scouts. Concerned that their supply lines were becoming overstretched and that the main Zulu army was still at large, British troops began torturing captive Zulu warriors in an effort to learn the location and tactics of their army. 

Caractacus

CARACTACUS and HOLYWELL FARM

The 1862 Epsom Derby was run on 4th June with a huge field of 34 horses, the largest ever recorded at the Derby.  When James 'Jim' Goater refused to ride Caractacus in favour of Goater's brother's horse, the Sprite, Mr Snewing's stable boy John Parsons, believed to be about 16 years old and reported to be the youngest jockey ever to win the Derby, was given the ride, as he had in the horse's three previous races.  The horses made three false starts before the race got underway with Caractacus being a distant outsider. Yet Caractacus won by a neck from Buckstone and Neptunus. An objection was raised by Lord Stamford, which was not upheld and then, when all the jockeys and saddles were weighed post race, Parsons did not initially meet the 122 lbs requirement weight and only the adding of the bridle to the tack prevented disqualification.  

"Caractacus, whose wondrous shape

Sets every country mouth agape-

And if, of the outsiders there,

One horse should pass the winning chair,

Enrolled in the successful three,

Be sure Caractacus is he."

—Orange Blossom, Bell's Life 

Caractacus was described as a bay colt that stood 15.1 hands high, with a “light” neck, fine shoulders, good girth and sound feet. He had a large white blaze, a white sock on his right front foot and a grey full-stocking on his right hind leg. He had a “corky” personality and possessed refined movement, leading him to be described as a “slashing goer.”   

As a yearling, Caractacus was bought for 250 guineas by the trainer William Day, acting on behalf of a London publican named Charles Snewing who also was a veterinary surgeon. Allegedly, the colt was named 'Caractacus' because Snewing had admired a statue of the British chieftain 'Caractacus bound in chains' at the 1851 Exhibition. He is reported to have said, "If ever I try a horse good enough I'll call him Caractacus, and win the Derby with him". In spring 1861, the two-year-old colt was moved to a stable at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, where his training was managed by Robert "Bob" Smith.  After the Derby win Caractacus was retired to stud in 1863, with Snewing retaining ownership. He was a breeding stallion first at the Highfield Paddock near St Albans for an annual fee of 20 guineas. He was moved to the Holywell Stud Farm in Watford sometime before 1872. Caractacus serviced approximately 40 mares per season while in Britain before being sold for £7,000 to Mr. Strass who exported him to St Petersburg at the end of the 1872 breeding season. Caractacus sired about 57 foals in Russia, none of which were successful racers or sires. He died in 1878 at the Russian Imperial Stud in Hrenoosky.

A Brief History of West Watford

S.W. Hertfordshire from a map of 1610

West Watford - A Brief History

Much has been researched and written about the town of Watford and Cassiobury, but our research to date (2019) has concentrated particularly on West Watford. We now feel it time to spread our wings, so to speak, and widen our area of research to the surrounding areas, as they have much to offer and are often linked to West Watford in some way, however small.  Or perhaps they are simply interesting.

If we go back in time some considerable way and consult the maps and references that are available, we can see that most of our area of interest was field, farm, meadow and marsh. At Hamper Mill, to the south of Brightwells Farm, Roman artefacts were excavated, including part of a trackway.  Further west, Iron Age artefacts were discovered during the construction of Greenhill Crescent.


There were two tracks/roads leading from Hamper Mill and Rickmansworth to Watford, early bridges over the Colne at Hamper Mill and in Moor Lane and at least six  farms on the way to Watford; Hampton Hall Farm, Moor Lane, (this includes the site of Hampton Hall which may also be the site of the medieval manor of Batchworth. It is named for a 14th lord of the manor, William Hampton. The manor house is mentioned in 1520 and may have been extant until 1839. The farm stands in what was its garden area and was built in the 1840s), Tolpits Farm, Brightwells Farm (at one time Hatters Farm), Holywell Farm, Cole Kings and Harwoods Farm. What is left of Tolpits Farm is now Tolpits House on a bend of the road where Moor Lane merges with Tolpits Lane and is part of Merchant Taylors School. Holywell, Cole Kings and Harwoods are gone and only Brightwells remains, which may possibly be as old as, or perhaps older, than the Manor of Cashio. 


There was very little in the way of expansion in the 'town' of Watford from the 12th to the 18th century. The 'one long street' then began to acquire yards and alleyways. In Briton's The Beauties of England & Wales, written in 1807, he describes Watford as a large, populous and busy town, the chief employment of its labouring classes being mainly agriculture, although there being three silk mills. The population of Watford is given as 3,530 and the number of houses 691. By 1850 there are two paper mills besides the silk mills, two breweries and several malt kilns. In 1851 the population is 8,646, yet twenty years later it has increased to 12,071.

The Pest House in Watford

The Pest House in Watford

The Watford pest house was situated at the end of Willow Lane, and it was known as Pest House Lane. It was situated near the river Colne and old lime kiln mills. This house was demolished in 1914. It is mentioned in the Book of Watford, and includes an entry about a nurse being paid to look after smallpox sufferers there (see below).

An earlier entry of 1694 in the Vestry Books records: ‘It is ordered that in case of sickness, no physic be allowed to the poor, but in providential distress, plague or small pox, broken bones or wounds’. In May 1738, it is noted that Edward Finch was appointed ‘to look after the poor of the parish as an apothecary, to be paid £12 for the year’, then in March 1749, Mr I Aihway, Surgeon ‘to take care and find suitable medications for the poor for the year enforcing at the rate of £12 per annum and that all surgeons and apothecaries belonging to the town take it alternatively at the same rate’.  In cases of sickness in the workhouse, a separate room was taken as an Infirmary, but in the case of infectious diseases, such as smallpox, there were Pest Houses. These, however, were not always in good repair and in 1754 it was noted that the local pest houses were not fit for the reception of sick persons, estimates being passed for their repair. In 1758 the governorship of the workhouse had passed to William Jennings, who resigned his agreement with not satisfying the Pest House nurse who, for nursing the sick with the smallpox at her annual salary of 10s. per week for nine weeks. It was after agreed that the nurse, for her good services in times for the poor of the parish, be paid the sum of £4.10s. for her nine weeks’ servitude, the Master having refused to do such nursing. The Watford Pest House was situated near the end of Pest House Lane (now Willow Lane alongside Watford General Hospital), some distance from the town (the land surrounding the town at this time being predominantly fields). It is noted in the records of May 1765, that William Jennings, of Hemel Hempstead, was still Governor at a salary of £70 per annum. Probably the same William Jennings who drew up the contract between himself, along with his executors and administrators and the Churchwardens and Overseers in 1765.

Brightwells Farm

Brightwells Farm

A History

Brightwells Farm lies at the southern end of Vicarage Road, just over a mile from Watford and about a quarter of a mile from Hamper Mill.  In Medieval times, it was variously included in the manors of Rickmansworth, La More, Cashio and Watford. There are several very early references to this site and it can be seen that Brightwell (Brittewell, Brutewell, de Brittewelle as examples of its changing name) has a history equal to, or at least as interesting, as that of Cashio and was at least of similar importance.

Within Cashio there were, circa 1086, 4 mills and therefore probably 4 hamlets.  One would be the hamlet of Cashio, giving its name to the manor or vice versa - possibly near Cassiobridge.  Another would be the hamlet of Watford, chosen or founded by St Albans Abbey for the site of another mill and the parish church – and therefore giving its name to the parish. Later, with the building of the royal palace at Kings Langley and the greater importance of radial routes from London as opposed to radial routes from St Albans and Winchester, Watford would oust the other hamlets by being more favourably positioned.  A third hamlet would be near Brightwell farm on or near the old Roman road/trackway and with easy access to Hamper Mill. (There are several possible locations for the fourth including Cassiobury Mill, Garston, Munden or Oxhey/Wiggenhall). Eventually several manors and independent estates were created within the large parish of Watford coincident with the pre-Domesday manor of Cashio.

The majority of the area we know today as Watford and its surrounding districts were held by St Albans Abbey of the king.  Parcels of land were often given, sued for or exchanged and Brightwells was no exception.  The manor of Britwell was said to have been granted to the abbey by Offa. In the early part of the thirteenth century Alice de Bretwelle held one hide* in Rickmansworth and in 1225 land in Britwell was held by Peter de Bretwelle, against whom it was claimed by John de Wittenham and Alice his wife and Richard Grimbald and Martina his wife. Land in Britwell, formerly held by William, son of John de Shelforde, was held in the thirteenth century (1292) by John de Brutwelle and the abbot commuted his service from suit to court to knight service in the king’s army. In other words, John de Brutwelle was involved in a land transaction with the Abbot of St Albans, which suggests an estate at Brightwell sufficient to give it some status.

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In 1301-2 this land had come to coheirs whose names are not given, but in 1303, Thomas de Wymundesham held a sixth part of a knight’s fee of the abbot of St Albans in Britwell. In 1320-1 the fee was held by John de Watford and in 1364 the manor under the name of a tenement called Brutewelles was in the hands of John de Chilterne. With regard to the history of Micklefield Hall (Sarratt), there is a reference to John de Chilterne of Rykemeresworth, who “on 16^th July 1364 granted to Ralph de Harpele, rector of Scherring and Stephen Megre, chaplain, his manors of Micklefield and Brittewelle in the towns of Rickmersworth and Caysho.”

In 1365 a list of properties records “Bruteswelle and Watford 17s 17d rent from divers tenants in the hamlets, held of the heirs of Sir Philip Durdent in free socage by service of 1d yearly and 1lb cumin ….. the premises at Rykesmers-worth, Caysho and Brutewelle, Crokesle and Watford, except the rent in Danielhide in Rykesmersworth were in the possession of Roger Colyn by demise.”  Here, in the 14^th century, it appears that Brutewelle (i.e. Brightwells) had the status of at least a hamlet, but possibly of a village ranking alongside the other places mentioned.

In 1366, the grantees (Ralph de Harpele and Ralph Megre) conveyed Brutewelles to Richard, son of Richard de Hemington and John, son of John de Radewell, sons of Margery and Margaret, daughters of John de Chilterne.  The manor was to be held by Richard and John for their lives with remainder in tail male to Henry and Pain, sons of John de Chilterne and to Andrew de Bures, Richard de Hemington, John de Radeswell and John Aignel, grandchildren of John de Chilterne.  Henry de Chilterne granted this manor in 1371-2 to Edmund de Gessinge and Katherine his wife and their heirs and assigns for ever. In 1381, Philip Bluet and Katherine his wife, who was the daughter of John de Chilterne, conveyed the manor to John de Raddeswelle and Richard de Hemington and this conveyance was confirmed by Henry and Pain de Chilterne, brothers of Katherine. Richard and John then reconveyed it to Philip and Katherine to be held by them for their lives for a rent of six marks to John and Richard, with reversion after the death of Philip and Katherine to John and Richard and their heirs. This same Katherine, who was then the wife of John of Gloucester and her son Andrew Bures, conveyed the manor to Henry, Bishop of Winchester, William Flete and others and this grant was confirmed by Pain de Chilterne. They, in return, granted Katherine a rent of 100s. from the manor.

In 1414, Katherine, the wife of William Creke or Creyke, daughter of Henry de Chilterne and Eleanor his wife, granted the manor to William Flete and John Deryng, two of the grantees mentioned above, probably in confirmation of the grant of Katherine, her aunt, as heiress of her father Henry.

William Flete was a London mercer, who built the castle and was the tenant of the Manor of the More (later Moor Park). He was supported by powerful men including the Bishops of Winchester and Durham and six others who acted as guarantors and supported his title.  In 1431 Flete claimed to hold this manor partly of Robert de Louthe at a rent and partly as a manor of the More and a dispute arose between Flete and the Abbot as to the tenure of this manor. The manor had once belonged to Thomas Wymyndham and afterwards to John Watford, clerk. The Abbot, however, said that William Flete bought the manor and that it was held of the Abbot for homage and fealty and rent and it was decided in the courts of law that the Abbot was justified in his claim.  From this time the manor of Brightwell descended with the manor of More and there was a “high bridge” across the river Colne at Hamper Mill and the estate included demesne lands and a field called High Crosse Field.

It was William Flete who, in 1416 as tenant of the Manor of the More, put up a claim to have a right of way for himself and his cattle from the More, across the fields to the market place at Watford.  The Abbot of St Albans went to law and William Flete failed to gain his point.  Again, in 1435, Flete came into conflict with tenant farmers when he tried to enforce a right of way from the Manor to Watford. This was unsuccessful until a century later when Cardinal Wolsey, after enlarging the house, sought to also enlarge the park and expelled one of his tenants from a messuage called Tolpotts and 170 acres of land and enclosed part of it within the park and made another part into a highway leading from Rickmansworth to Watford (hence Tolpits Lane).

By 1456, the manor (of More) had come to Sir Ralph Boteler, Lord Sudeley and the Abbot (of St Albans), in exchange for certain tenements in London on the Thames, confirmed the manors of More, Ashleys, Batchworth, Eastbury and Britwell to Sir Ralph for a rent of 1d for each manor in recognition of the fact that it was held by the Abbey.

“On the 15^th May 1456, Sir Ralph Boteler, Lord of Sudeley, granted to the Abbot and Monks the following lands, which they heretofore had held of him by rent:- Lands near Crokesley Green called Elys Londe, land in Brittewelle More and pasture land in Bury More, all in the parish of Rykmersworth. Ten days later the Abbey gave Sir Ralph, in exchange, the Manors of Baccheworth, La More and Brittewelle in the parishes of Rykmansworth and Watford, for the yearly payment of one penny per annum for each manor, for all services.” 

By 1556, by a copy of court roll of the manor of More, Brightwells Farm in Watford parish, near to Hamper Mills is held by Thomas and William Weedon.

From the probate inventories of the Jacobean period it is possible to get a picture of cropping arrangements and other details of some Watford farms. On 25^th March 1617, soon after his death, John Weedon, a yeoman, had his estate of Britwells inventoried. Apart from a bull, 6 beasts, 2 calves, 12 hoggs and some horses, he had 26 acres of wheat and 30 acres of lent corn (i.e. summer corn or spring corn crops such as oats, peas and barley).

Also of interest regarding mills in the area, again from a tithe account of 1668 for Cashio hamlet there is mention of an acre of grass ‘at the oyle mills’ which suggests that a commercial crop for the production of vegetable oil may have been grown thereabouts. Hemp and teasels are both mentioned in the early years of the century, but receive no mention after 1660. There are also two mentions of a stock of flax for persons in Watford and Aldenham, but something more of a novelty is the mention of 11/2 bushels of mustard seed at Watford in 1665 and a mustard mill at Brightwells farm in 1676.

From the tithe accounts of 1656 there is a brief description of ‘2 messuages or tenements called Brightwells which are now converted into 1 messuage, being 17 several closes divided and being on both sides of the way leading from High Bridge (Hamper Mill) towards Watford and between the River called Colney stream towards the south and the common called Blackmoor and Cowmoor towards the north and the lands sometime belonging to the messuage called Hatters towards the east and the Demeanes (sic) called twelve acres towards the west containing by estimation 184 acres more or less’. This gives an average field size of nearly 11 acres. Another 17^th century document gives details of Hatters farm in the manor of Cashio as arable land divided into 8 parts containing 105 acres. Here the arable field size average is 13 acres. Sir Charles Morrison added several estates to the manor of Cassiobury, including ‘Hatters Farm’ which was parcel of the manor of Cassiobury in 1691. 

Holywell Farm

 A History of Holywell Farm, Watford

The name Holywell is common throughout England and Wales and the derivation comes from Anglo Saxon, but not all such place names had a well.

Holywell Farm in West Watford lay at the end of Vicarage Road, about a mile from the town, with land abutting the River Colne and a view across to Oxhey. To put it into today's map, it was where Stripling Way leads onto the Lairage Land and covering the land where Laurance Haines school is now and what became Harwoods recreation ground. It was being farmed before the coming of the Watford to Croxley branch line, which was begun in 1908. In fact, according to early censuses, the address is variously given as Holywell Farm, Moor Lane, Oxhey Hamlet, in the District of Watford.  When it was sold at auction in 1887 it was advertised as being on the High Road from Watford. Further on down Vicarage Road is Brightwells Farm, still in existence. 

In the 1700s into the late 1800s, Watford was very much an agricultural landscape and Agricultural Labourer is often given as an occupation on the early censuses, along with shepherd boy, cowman and cowboy. 

One of the earliest references to Holywell Farm is with regard to a Mr Jonathan Cox Lovett, born July 1739. His father was Daniel, his mother Elizabeth and he was baptised at St Mary’s Watford. He died a widower in March 1787 and there is an interesting reference to him in Henry Williams's History of Watford and Trade Directory published in 1884 regarding charitable endowments in relation to Dame Fuller's Free School, 'without which the income it possessed in the time of the foundress would have proved wholly inadequate to carry her pious intentions into effect had it not been for the benevolent consideration of subsequent benefactors who bequeathed certain sums to supply the deficiencies'. 

Robert Clutterbuck (1772 – 1831) who spent 18 years writing The History and Antiquities of the County of Hertford,  wrote of a circumstance in connection with the said school. He says: "Mr Jonathan Cox Lovett, of Holywell, in this parish, by his will dated the 1st of May, 1780, made a reversionary devise of certain estates consisting of Holywell Farm, etc., to the trustees of this school; this devise, however, from having been made within twelve months of his decease and from not having been enrolled in Chancery, became void by the Act of the 9th of George II. c.36, called the Statute of Mortmain. Had this devise taken effect, the rents of the estates so devised would have been fully adequate to the future support of the school; under existing circumstances, however, its income must, in process of time, from the causes I have mentioned, be insufficient to defray its expenses."

Another early reference to the farm is the 1841 census on which John Tookey (b1781)) is named as Farmer and his birthplace is given as Hertfordshire. He was living at Holywell Farm along with his wife Mary, of the same age and nine others including William Saunders aged 25 (b1816), agricultural labourer, his wife and three children and Thomas Sawyer aged 15, also recorded as agricultural labourer. The others Ellen, Mary, John and Thomas are given as family members.

 

1841		Holywell Farm, Oxhey/Watford		Place of Birth
John Tookey	60	Farmer	1781
Mary Tookey	60		1781
John Lennington	15		1826
Ellen Mahon	20		1821	Ireland
Thomas Sawyer	15	Ag labourer	1826
William Saunders	25	Ag Labourer	b1816	Hertfordshire
Ann Saunders	25		b 1816	“
George     “	5		b 1836	“
Mary         “	3		b 1838	“
Edward      “	1		b 1840	“
George Chil ?	15

Ten years later on the 1851 census, there is no mention of 'a farmer'  or Head of household (they could have been away at the time), but William Saunders is still in residence as agricultural labourer, along with Ann, recorded as wife/charwoman, son George 15, farm labourer, Mary, just recorded as 'at home', Edward, now 11 shepherd boy, Emma, Eliza and Susannah, daughters. All from Watford, except Ann. 

1851 Census		Holywell Farm		Place of Birth
William Saunders	36	Agricultural Labourer	b 1816	Watford
Ann Saunders	39	wife/charwoman	b 1812	St Stephens, Herts
George	15	Son, farm labourer	b 1836	Watford
Mary	13	At home	b 1839	“
Edward	11	Son, Shepherd Boy	b 1840	“
Emma	9	Daughter, school	1842	“
Eliza	7	Daughter, school	1844	“
Susannah	2	Daughter	1849	“

In 1861, Holywell Farm has clearly changed ownership and the census for that year records: Charles Snewing, b. 1817 in Warwickshire, married, farmer of 108 acres employing 8 men and 2 boys. This is the Charles Snewing of Caractacus racehorse fame (see detailed story in drop-down menu). 

1861 Census		Holywell Farm, Moor Lane		Place of Birth
Charles Snewing	43	m. Farmer of 108 acres employing 8 men, 2 boys	b 1817	Warwickshire
Charles Snewing		Son, scholar	b 1853	Middx
Ann Snewing	8	niece	b 1853	Middlesex
Sarah Ann Crofts	31	Cousin	b 1830	Wolvery, Warkwicks
John Andrews	67	Servant, Farm Bailiff	b 1794	Gt Gaddesden
Elizabeth Clever	38	Servant, cook	b 1823	Wolvery, Warwicks
Mary Wech	15	Housemaid, domestic servant	b 1846	Watford
Charles Dale	14	Agricultural Labourer, cowboy	b 1847	Watford

By 1871 Charles Snewing is still the owner of Holywell Farm and it is notable that William Saunders and his wife Ann are back in residence at the time of the census. 

There are many references to Charles Snewing in the Watford Observer and other publications throughout his time at Holywell, usually with regard to horses and horse sales as, under his ownership, Holywell had become a stud farm. The following is just one example;

Sporting Life - Tuesday 14 March 1882

Holywell Stud Farm, Watford. LORD MALDEN (own brother in blood to Petrarch), a bright bay horse, without white, of great substance, fully 16 hands high, free from hereditary disease, with grand action and fine temper; will serve a limited number of mares, 5 guineas a mare..... etc. For subscriptions apply to Mr. C. SNEWING

There are also references to William Saunders in the local paper who, in a later report is referred to as Mr Snewing's foreman.

From the Watford Observer - Saturday 19 April 1879 -

SEED POTATOES.—For Sale, Surplus Stock of  Ash Leaf Kidney. Price 2s 6d per bushel. Apply to Wm. Saunders. Holywell Farm, Watford. 

Another small example of the farmer's life is shown in  the following short extract from the Herts Advertiser, Saturday 23rd December 1876 - 'Watford Christmas Meat Show' (an annual event by all accounts) when farmers and butchers from around the district would gather to show off their livestock and wares:

"The unseasonableness of the weather on Tuesday last made the butchers wonderfully chary about their display of Christmas fare and the consequence was that there was not nearly so fine a show as last year. Nothing is to be said against the quality of the meat, nearly all of which was of the very primest description  and reflected highly to the credit and ability of the  breeders. The fattening of stock and making it ripe for the butchers has become a very important branch of modern agriculture'. The article goes on to name all the farmers from all the farms around Watford, from as far afield as Winslow and Rickmansworth, together with their exhibits, which included pheasants and other game, hares, geese, turkeys, ducks, fowls, and of course, cattle and sheep. Charles Snewing of Holywell Farm is noted as "exhibiting a fat calf, fed by the exhibitor and 4 very prime southdown sheep, also fed by him".  

1871 Census		Holywell Farm
Charles Snewing	52	Widower	b 1818	Brinklow,Warwickshire
Charles Snewing	18	Son	b 1853	London
Allan Jeffrey	44	Visitor	b 1827	Scotland
William Saunders	57	Agricultural Labourer Same William Saunders as in 1851 census   By 1891 he was living in Estcourt Rd Watford aged 77 with his wife Annie (80), occ Labourer Past Work	b 1814	Herts
Ann Saunders	60	Servant Same Ann Saunders as in 1851 census	b 1811	Herts
Frederick Durrant	18	Servant	b 1853	Herts
Samual Durrant	15	Servant		Herts
Mary Ann Heel	26	Servant	b 1845	Warwickshire

Yet a rather more lengthy report from the Watford Observer of October 1872 (here abridged) concerns Henry Robinson and an alleged theft of tools from Frederick Hickford. He was accused of stealing a saw and shovels from Mr Snewing's Holywell Farm. A number of people were called to give statements regarding the tools. William Saunders stated: "I am foreman to Mr Charles Snewing of Holywell Farm, Watford. The hay fork has been lost since the other tools, but I cannot say when. We lost two shovels, a four-tined fork, and a spade last February, belonging to Mr. Snewing. They were taken out of the toolhouse on a Sunday evening. There have been marks on the tools produced where I usually mark Mr. Snewing’s, but they have been removed. The hay fork produced has also been marked in two places, as I usually mark them. Mr. Snewing bought the shovels himself. One of them was light and the other heavy. The heavy one had a tread on it, but the light one had not. The tools have all the appearance of those which belonged to Mr. Snewing".

Mr Boydell stated: I know the saw also by being able to bend it double; I never knew another saw that you could bend double. I also know it by the maker's name stamped on the plate. I do not think there are many saws in Watford by the same maker. I positively swear that the saw produced is mine.  I sold the shovels to Mr. Snewing myself."

Henry Purcell stated: I live at Lodge, Watford. I bought the four-tined fork off the prisoner on the 10th July last. I had previously sold the prisoner a load of dung, and had the fork in lien of money. The fork produced is the one that I bought off the prisoner. My wife gave it up to the police. I am a signalman on the London and North-Western Railway, and was on duty at Pinner Station at the time.

Police Constable Jennings stated: On Tuesday last, the 1st October, I received the fork produced from the last witness's wife at Wiggenhall Lodge. I found the light shovel in a hut on the Rickmansworth line, where the prisoner had been at work. The prisoner told the ganger to give it to me; he said that it belonged to him. I also found the spade produced on the line, hidden under some sleepers.

Saunders was again recalled. He said the spade produced was like one lost from Mr. Snewing’s. The brands had been cut out of it. 

The prisoner pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He was committed for trial.